Teen charged as juvenile in alleged Roy High School bomb plot

Courts • Prosecutors are seeking to try the 16-year-old student as an adult.

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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Weber County prosecutors on Tuesday filed a felony charge in juvenile court against a 16-year-old Roy High School student who police say plotted to set off an explosive in the school.

In 2nd District Juvenile Court, the 16-year-old was charged with one count of use of a weapon of mass destruction, a first-degree felony. The boy's alleged co-conspirator, 18-year-old Dallin Todd Morgan, has been charged with the same count as an adult in 2nd District Court.

Police say the teens, both Roy High seniors, had planned to set off a bomb during a school assembly, then steal an airplane and fly to another country. Searches by police turned up no explosives.

On Tuesday prosecutors also filed a motion to certify the 16-year-old boy as an adult. The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not name juveniles charged with crimes.

"These offenses were especially serious given the fact that the offense was directed against the entire student body and staff of Roy High School as well as a threat of extensive property damage," prosecutors wrote in the motion. "The defendant's emotional attitude, pattern of living, environment and home life demonstrate that he has sufficient maturity to appreciate the seriousness of these charges and to be tried as an adult."

Police say they arrested the teens after other students came forward with concerning text messages sent from the 16-year-old.

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